Resident helps clients overcome hard times and addictions

By Maggie LillisVIEW STAFF WRITER

Everyone has issues and obstacles, but how to handle them is what sets Nannette DiMascio apart.

The Centennial Hills resident is a certified master coach, practitioner and trainer of neuro-linguistic programming , an approach to psychotherapy and organizational change. Simply put, new habits and self-awareness are ushered in and old behaviors and the emotions attached to them are out.

In the time DiMascio has been an neuro-linguistic programming coach and trainer, she has helped addicts overcome their demons and others improve their work and personal lives forever. DiMascio treated herself of patterns of behavior that were detrimental to her marriage and health and in turn repaired her relationship and helped her lose 12 pounds.

"If you get into a better-feeling state, you make better decisions," DiMascio said on the philosophy of her work. "NLP is a way to change your neurology so you can change your world."

Neuro-linguistic programming co-founders Richard Bandler and linguist John Grinder studied other popular methods and boiled it down to the connections between brain, language and behavior, thus the literal name they gave their new style. The brush stroke of problems that can be helped is broad. The client is awake and present during the treatment, and no chemicals or medication are involved.

DiMascio became familiar with neuro-linguistic programming 18 years ago as a student of psychology. Her interest in the topic of the unconscious mind was piqued when she was 9 and read "Psycho-Cybernetics," a self-help book penned by Maxwell Maltz.

She has a degree in psychology but was a Realtor for eight years. She received a master's degree in counseling but felt her education ill-equipped her to make real change in patients' lives.

"I started looking for answers," she said.

She attended seminars and self-help instruction, and one style kept popping up.

"NLP kept coming around more and more," she said. "I felt like I had to get certified."

She has been helping clients for about a year. Many sessions are over the phone. And they're fast, she said.

DiMascio is an author, too. "A User's Guide to Transformation" outlines how to make a change with eight-minute exercises for 28 days.

DiMascio's client testimonials include desperate people and loved ones finally getting release. One Las Vegas father turned to DiMascio when his 17-year-old son was smoking black tar heroin after months of therapy and rehabilitation.

DiMascio met with the young man and learned that his problems stemmed from a friend's death, another's move out of state and his break up with his girlfriend. DiMascio taught him ways to focus on the good and helpful things in his life, his father wrote in a testimonial, and now the young man is an A-student, employed and about to enter college on a scholarship.

"I help them show that their feelings are their choice," DiMascio said. "We create our own experience. This work can release your genius and your most authentic self."

DiMascio describes her service in simple and straightforward terms. The solutions have tangible results, are easy to incorporate into daily routine and are fun.

DiMascio can help clear attachments or addictions to vices such as junk food, she said.

But often , clients have more serious behaviors to address.

Shelly Willey said she was at a tipping point as a businesswoman, wife and mother. She was always on edge and short with those around her.

She spoke with DiMascio last fall.

"I guess it was just my life was a roller coaster and she just smoothed out the ride for me," she said. "You visualize it differently. You come to terms with what was messing you up."

Willey loosened her grip on work affairs and learned to relax. Her personal relationships improved, too.

She even carves out time to write children's books with her 4-year-old daughter.

"I'm not clear how it all worked together to help me out," she said of her treatment. "I saw results instantly."

Client John Remillard's work was putting up mental blocks that prevented him from making decisions. Sessions with DiMascio cleared his roadblocks and have made him calmer and more confident, he said.

"I'm a scientist, and I usually don't get involved in these business-making decisions . I didn't know how to do it," he said. "She knew what to do and she did it and it worked. She made these things connect in the simplest ways."

DiMascio posed a series of questions to Remillard and also gave him some to ask himself later. "In a matter of seconds, things became clear to me," he said. "Now I can't go back and remember the problem."

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